Retro A to Z Challenge: J – John Carter 2012 (and new How to Train Your Dragon Trailer and George RR Martin Killing Characters)

John Carter – 2012

Loosely based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Princess of Mars, this film was supposed to launch a new epic series. A perfect blend of space opera, Western, and pulp fiction, the movie follows Carter as he is transported to Mars (Barsoom) and thrust in the middle of a war. Despite Disney’s mishandling of the marketing, this is fun and adventurous romp that deserved better. Although the material is now almost a hundred years old, it still feels fresh.

2012 fun facts –
*Cost of new house - $263,000.
*Cost of a movie ticket - $8.20
*The Curiosity Rover landed on Mars
*Bradley Wiggins became the first British rider to win the Tour de France
*The LA Kings won their first Stanley Cup
*Felix Baumgartner broke the sound barrier in a free fall from space
*CassaFire was released!

Movies –
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Avengers
The Dark Knight Rises
The Amazing Spiderman

Music –
Rush – Clockwork Angels
Kamelot – Silverthorn
Testament – Dark Roots of the Earth

Games –
Diablo III
Torchlight II

And why is 2012 so special?
It’s the year Laura at My Baffling Brain started writing – and she hasn’t stopped since!

Laura lives in England and has a Masters Degree in Creative writing. She’s fun, enthusiastic, and very appreciative of this online community. She’s also a real goal-setter and a sweet girl. She’ll go far! Laura blogs at My Baffling Brain

Ninja News

Available today – Meilin and the Challenger by Cate Masters! A futuristic fairy tale/urban fantasy with zombies.

Nigel Mitchell posted the funniest George R R Martin jokes yesterday. So if you like this one, head over to see the rest of them.

Justified

This series started a couple years ago and is based on books by Elmore Leonard.
It follows a US Marshal, played perfectly by Timothy Olyphant, who is reassigned to his Kentucky hometown. There he has to deal with feuding clans, white supremacists, and his old friend Boyd Crowder. (Who's definitely on the wrong side of the law.)
The show crackles with great writing, crazy characters, and a cool as heck hero. It’s in its final season, but you can catch the first four on NetFlix.
Highly recommended!

Latest Trailer

And for your enjoyment, the latest trailer for How to Train Your Dragon 2:



Have you seen John Carter or read the Barsoom books? Following the delightful Laura? Need a good laugh? Fan of Justified? Excited for How to Train Your Dragon 2? And what do you remember best about 2012…?

Seeing Rio 2 (the stupid bird movie) tonight, so look for review tomorrow…